ABSTRACT

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common tumor with a fatal clinical outcome if not diagnosed at an early stage. To date there is still a lack of reliable tumor biomarkers to detect asymptomatic precursor lesions in early HCC. Conventional pathological analysis also often fails to achieve sufficient sensitivity and specificity to diagnose early HCC. Genetic, proteomic, immunohistochemical, and liquid biopsy analysis indicate a role for members of the heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) family as potential tumor-specific markers for HCC. The aim of this review is to revisit the existing literature and to specifically explore HSP70 as a molecular tumor biomarker for the detection of HCC and its potential use as a tumor-specific target for future anticancer therapies in HCC.